Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[ronjhall]

School me on the SDS Max. Is it the type of motor or just a rating? Are the others too light to drive rods?

Here is a link to the different bits for hammer drills.
I have the Bauer 10 amp hammer drill. I purchased it to drill holes in a 20" footing with a 3/4" bit. Drilled like it was a piece of wood. I used a Bosch drill.
I went cheap because I did not think I would ever need to drill anything bigger. Price of SDS-Max bits are higher than SDS-Plus.
I will have to get a rod driver bit for it.

 

[John_Mc]

You guys are saying "hammer drill", but aren't you really referring to a "rotary hammer". There is a difference, and the latter tend to be much more powerful.

 

[ronjhall]

You guys are saying "hammer drill", but aren't you really referring to a "rotary hammer". There is a difference, and the latter tend to be much more powerful.

I get lazy typing. Yes, rotary hammer. The HF’s have three settings. Drill, hammer drill and hammer.

 

[Alan W.]

Its not HF but I like it. Got it at TSC yesterday. Bendable, lighted, magnetic pickup tool.
$5.00

 

[farmer2009]

Thanks. Think I’ll be using that super coupon this week to pick up the SDS-max Rotary Hammer.

 

[PJSprog]

Has anyone here used the sanding sponges? Thinking of grabbing some of those this weekend to work on a guitar body I'm building.

I have, the ones I used were pretty hit or miss. I was doing drywall and the media seemed to wear down/ off pretty quick. Went back to 3M ones and found them a lot less frustrating, didn't seem to wear out or load up as quick.
This was a few years ago so maybe the quality has changed.

My experience too. Worthwhile for sanding curves. Used wet, I went through several, they wore out faster than I expected.

I would use them for a guitar project. But if I were paying someone hourly wages I might look for similar in 'pro' quality.

Thanks, guys. I didn't expect them to be 3M quality, just wondering whether or not they are a complete waste of time.

Appreciate the input. I'll give them a try.

Picked up a pack of the 150 grit sponges this weekend and used them to prep sand the guitar body. All previous assessments here were correct; they did load up fast, and started coming apart at the edges (all the routed edges on the top contributed to this, of course). In the end, though, they worked OK for the job. I went through two for prep sanding, and one more to sand some paint runs on the first coat.

My general assessment is ... eh, they're OK. Not great, but they don't suck.

 

[California]

Has HF's new 4 Ft. LED Hanging Shop Light been discussed in this thread? They are presently $25 with coupon.

120 volts, 1.1 amps, 60 watts, huh ???

5000 Lumens sounds good, that's brighter than the similar $40 lights at Home Depot. I see a HF review complaining the color is closer to an incandescent bulb than to the daylight white of standard fluorescents.

What is everyone's experience with these? Will two on each side adequately light up my barn stall (photo, there are also workbenches down both sides) which is sized to work on one vehicle?

 

[dragoneggs]

Has HF's new 4 Ft. LED Hanging Shop Light been discussed in this thread? They are presently $25 with coupon.

120 volts, 1.1 amps, 60 watts, huh ???

5000 Lumens sounds good, that's brighter than the similar $40 lights at Home Depot. I see a HF review complaining the color is closer to an incandescent bulb than to the daylight white of standard fluorescents.

What is everyone's experience with these? Will two on each side adequately light up my barn stall (photo, there are also workbenches down both sides) which is sized to work on one vehicle?

If you are a Costco member get their LED shop lights when they are instant rebate price of $19.99 (fixture and two bulbs) They vary in pricing between $29 and $19 throughout the year. I now have a bunch and they have been awesome. Running the first ones for a couple + years now. No radio interference. Nice bright light (more than fluorescents) and instant on in the cold.

 

[California]

Wish I belonged to Costco.

Home Depot has similar, by Feit, but not near the price, and not near the claimed 5000 Lumens output of these HF lights.

The HF lights aren't quite as energy efficient as the box-store brands. This would be significant in many cases. But my use would be a few hours occasionally, so the 60 watt draw isn't an issue.

I just found a coupon for $19.99 for these HF shop lights at: HF Coupon Database. HF here I come!

 

[ultrarunner]

If you are a Costco member get their LED shop lights when they are instant rebate price of $19.99 (fixture and two bulbs) They vary in pricing between $29 and $19 throughout the year. I now have a bunch and they have been awesome. Running the first ones for a couple + years now. No radio interference. Nice bright light (more than fluorescents) and instant on in the cold.

Yep... can't say enough good things about these and I have a few years use now...

 

[thepumpguysc]

I bought 1 of the HF lites just to check it out.. I'm in the process of rigging my new shop w/ 10 lites..5000L
I ended-up building a bracket to hang it DIRECTLY over my work bench.. it works fine NOW.. I was not impressed..
After the HF shopping tour, the wife needed afew things at Walmart.. THEY have the lites at 19.00.!! I paid 25.00 at HF..
I ended-up ordering a SET of 10- 5000L off the internet.. The electrician is wiring the building tomorrow & will be hanging the NEW lites shortly.

 

[John_Mc]

If you are a Costco member get their LED shop lights when they are instant rebate price of $19.99 (fixture and two bulbs) They vary in pricing between $29 and $19 throughout the year. I now have a bunch and they have been awesome. Running the first ones for a couple + years now. No radio interference. Nice bright light (more than fluorescents) and instant on in the cold.

Do you have a part number or picture? last time I was in Costco, they had a couple of different styles.

 

[Ford850]

The going price, full retail, on 5000 lumen, 4000k or 5000k, LED shop lights is $19 from when I've seen lately. Menards and Rural King both have them in stock and run sales or rebates getting the price down to $17 range. RK has them with blue tooth speakers built in for that price too.

 

[newbury]

What逞ｴ your thoughts on the rotary hammers?

Been wanting one for a while. Main task will be concrete drilling and driving ground rods. New harbor freight opened about 30 miles away. So far it逞ｴ the closest and we豎*e in the city weekly. Thinking about the 1 1/8 $97 one. There逞ｴ also a 1 $82 one. Next step is 1 9/16 for $150.

For those applications go 1 9/16.

Here is a link to the different bits for hammer drills.
I have the Bauer 10 amp hammer drill. I purchased it to drill holes in a 20" footing with a 3/4" bit. Drilled like it was a piece of wood. I used a Bosch drill.
I went cheap because I did not think I would ever need to drill anything bigger. Price of SDS-Max bits are higher than SDS-Plus.
I will have to get a rod driver bit for it.

My son wanted a rh for his birthday and picked out a Bosch 1 1/8, I got him a Bosch 1 9/16 SDSMAX. He used it for various projects. Last summer I borrowed it to do some concrete crack repair. It was like driving my dually for picking up groceries, for me FAR overkill. Could hardly use it one handed. Later in the summer I had a project for more repair, and part of it involved breaking concrete off about a 100' run of brick/concrete joint.

The steel chisel w/ sledge was just not doing it. The HF 1/2 in. Heavy Duty Variable Speed Reversible Hammer Drill wasn't up to the task. So I got the HF 1-1/8 in. SDS Variable Speed Pro Rotary Hammer Kit, ($75 w/coupon) - that worked great.
I could easily use it one handed (it was about 4 lbs lighter than the Bosch) on the stuff I was attacking or two handed, put some of my weight on it and bust some concrete pavers.

So you can always put lighter cheaper bits in an SDS MAX or spline with an adapter. You can't make the drill more powerful. I've about 80 linear feet of concrete driveway (10' sections) that needs major repairs. I can see a 15 amp breaker hammer in my future tool buys.

 

[PJSprog]

The going price, full retail, on 5000 lumen, 4000k or 5000k, LED shop lights is $19 from when I've seen lately. Menards and Rural King both have them in stock and run sales or rebates getting the price down to $17 range. RK has them with blue tooth speakers built in for that price too.

Yup, I bought the Menard's version last summer and have two of them over my garage work bench. Work great.

 

[California]

I bought 1 of the HF lites ...
I ended-up building a bracket to hang it DIRECTLY over my work bench.. it works fine NOW.. I was not impressed.

A problem with the mounting system, electrical hookup, color of light, lesser quality overall than the Walmart version, or ???

 

[Gregster613]

What’s your thoughts on the rotary hammers? FYI I bought one several years back and it "never" worked right! Would not do any hammer action, just turned out to be nothing more than a drill. Serious disappointment for me. YMMV Greg

 

[Oaktree]

What’s your thoughts on the rotary hammers? FYI I bought one several years back and it "never" worked right! Would not do any hammer action, just turned out to be nothing more than a drill. Serious disappointment for me. YMMV Greg

I'm not completely sure on the difference between a hammer drill and a rotary hammer, duty cycle perhaps?
I've found a hammer drill pretty much indispensable if you're trying to drill into concrete.

Most hammer drills I've used you can turn the "hammer" part off and just use it as a regular drill...maybe that was your problem?

 

[ultrarunner]

Some are 3 in 1

You can conventional drill

You can hammer drill which goes well with the quick change SDS bits

You can hammer alone which I say is like chipping... perfect for quickly for taking up old tile and such...

 

[dragoneggs]

Do you have a part number or picture? last time I was in Costco, they had a couple of different styles.

Yes there are two different styles. I only have experience with this one. It is available on Amazon for twice the price though!

Feit 4' Linkable LED Shop Light